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What day is it when your boss tells you to dress up, drink champagne and dance around in front of your co-workers? The clue is the Santa hat on top of your head. For those of us working in the UK, you’re not allowed Christmas Day until you’ve had “Office Christmas Party Day”.
什么樣的日子里老板會(huì)讓你在同事面前盛裝打扮，暢飲香檳，翩翩起舞呢？而你頭頂?shù)氖フQ帽便預(yù)示著這一天的來臨。對(duì)于我們這些在英國(guó)工作的人來說，不參加“辦公室圣誕派對(duì)”，就不準(zhǔn)過圣誕。
While Chinese companies are planning their Spring Festival gala to congratulate themselves on what has (hopefully) been a good Year of the Dragon, people in the UK are recovering from their office Christmas parties, which took place in early December.
當(dāng)許多中國(guó)的公司正在策劃春節(jié)聯(lián)歡會(huì)，慶賀龍年佳績(jī)（希望如此）之時(shí)，英國(guó)人剛剛從十二月初的辦公室圣誕派對(duì)中回過神來。
There’s usually an “Awards Ceremony”, with typical prizes going to the “Office Clown”, “Most Annoying Laugh”, or (as I was once crowned) “Owner of Messiest Desk”.
通常會(huì)有一個(gè)“頒獎(jiǎng)典禮”，開設(shè)“辦公室小丑”，“最惱人之笑聲”或“最亂辦公桌主人”（我曾經(jīng)獲得過一次）等特別獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)。
Most companies also stage a traditional Christmas pantomime – a performance, usually of a well-known fairy tale, in which men play women and women play men. One of my first Christmas memories is of being forced to watch my father’s Christmas panto. The sight of him in a sparkly dress, pink high heels and a blonde wig has stayed with me forever.
同時(shí)，大多數(shù)公司還會(huì)獻(xiàn)上一部傳統(tǒng)的圣誕童話劇—通常是人們反串演繹童話名著。我對(duì)圣誕節(jié)的最初記憶是硬著頭皮觀看父親出演的圣誕童話劇，看到他穿著亮片禮服，粉色高跟鞋，戴著金色的假發(fā)，這些記憶永遠(yuǎn)抹不去。
But it’s not just the hapless children of employees who often find the whole experience rather embarrassing. Even without plays and cross-dressing, everyone knows they will have to spend an evening with their colleagues and boss. A recent survey found that almost a third of British workers hate office Christmas parties. Even more, 70 percent, said they did not want to socialize with their co-workers.
然而，不僅僅只有那些倒霉的員工子女們會(huì)覺得整段經(jīng)歷羞愧難當(dāng)。即使沒有反串表演，所有人都清楚自己講不得不與同事和老板共度良宵。最新的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，幾乎三分之一的英國(guó)職員痛恨辦公室圣誕派對(duì)。甚至有百分之七十的人表示不想與同事進(jìn)行社交活動(dòng)。
As is normal in awkward circumstances, people turn to the (often free) alcohol on offer – and that’s when things start getting messy. According to a survey released this month, one in three employees at banking firms in London have “behaved inappropriately” with a colleague of the opposite sex at their office Christmas party because they were drunk.
正常情況下，當(dāng)人們身陷尷尬之中時(shí)，會(huì)投向酒精的懷抱（通常這些都是免費(fèi)的）——而這正是把事情搞砸的開始。根據(jù)12月份發(fā)布的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，在倫敦的銀行機(jī)構(gòu)中，平均每三名員工，就有一個(gè)因?yàn)樽砭贫鴮?duì)公司的異性同事“行為不當(dāng)”。
Luckily for party-haters, things are changing. Many people now work over Christmas or New Year, although this didn’t stop employees of the Royal Court Theatre in London from staying up all night for their party.
幸好對(duì)于那些討厭派對(duì)的人來說，事情正在發(fā)生轉(zhuǎn)變。許多人選擇在圣誕或新年加班，盡管這沒能阻止倫敦皇家大劇院的員工通宵達(dá)旦地籌備他們的派對(duì)。
But even rich lawyers say the days of extravagant celebrations are over. According to a lawyer from Clifford Chance, the three-course meal and open bar at a private member’s club with a rooftop swimming pool was “fairly sedate”.
但是，即便是富有的律師們也紛紛表示奢侈的慶?；顒?dòng)已經(jīng)一去不返了。高偉紳律師事務(wù)所的一名律師稱，在配有屋頂游泳池的私人俱樂部里，一頓三道菜的飯?jiān)偌由厦赓M(fèi)酒吧，這些已經(jīng)算是“相當(dāng)莊重”了。
“Later on a few people tried to go swimming in the pool,” he said. “But I’d left by that point.”
“隨后一些人會(huì)去泳池游泳，”他說，“而那時(shí)我就會(huì)選擇離開。”
Still, smaller budgets won’t stop the office Christmas party from being a nightmare for many workers. It’s just as easy to embarrass yourself with cheap wine as it is with expensive champagne, and to cause enough shame to last until your first day back at work in 2013.
盡管如此，預(yù)算縮水無法阻止公司圣誕派對(duì)淪為員工噩夢(mèng)。無論是廉價(jià)的葡萄酒還是昂貴的香檳，這些都能輕而易舉地令你身陷難堪，而你的窘境將一直持續(xù)到新年開工之日。
